1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing device and an information processing method for performing voice guidance in an information processing apparatus, such as a personal computer, facsimile machine, or a copying machine, provided with a multifunctional user interface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, information processing apparatuses, such as personal computers, facsimile machines, and copying machines, have been provided with more various and more complicated functions. Thus, it is very difficult for general users to remember such complicated functions to use them efficiently. Since there are some unfamiliar functions that are not used by users who are familiar with the apparatuses, even the users who are familiar with the apparatuses may need guidance, such as explanations for the unfamiliar functions. Thus, apparatuses, which are typified by copying machines and the like, providing operational guidance by voice or the like so that users can efficiently perform various operations are commonly known. For example, an interactive device that is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-44520 is known in which operational ability of a user is determined from time spent for input operations and guidance for general users is changed in accordance with the user's operational ability.
However, in the known interactive device mentioned above, input operations during interactive processing are determined in order to determine appropriate guidance. Thus, appropriate guidance is determined only from interactive operations, which are performed after listening to operational guidance. Therefore, when users who often use the apparatuses use an unfamiliar function, their knowledge is almost equal to the knowledge of users who are unfamiliar with the apparatuses. Also, for guidance for an operation whose procedures are not specified, guidance desired by users may not be output. Moreover, for an apparatus, such as a copying machine, it is useless for users who have knowledge about troubleshooting for a paper jam or the like to listen to guidance for this kind of troubleshooting many times. In contrast, users who have little knowledge about the troubleshooting need appropriate guidance.